Widor: Organ Symphonies Nos 7 & 8 (Nolan)

This is volume four in Joseph Nolan’s widely acclaimed journey through the complete organ works of Charles-Marie Widor. The Perth organist’s high standards show no signs of slipping, with magnificent accounts of Symphonies Nos 7 and 8.

Widor wrote these two symphonies between 1886 and 1887. These and the previous two (published 1879) comprise the composer’s Opus 42, which after its initial publication in 1887 was to go through a further five editions. Massive in their structure and conception, 7 and 8 are more consciously symphonic in a late-Romantic sense and less suite-like than some of the earlier symphonies.

Nolan, formerly of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, St. James’ Palace and, Master of Music at St. George’s Cathedral Perth, was recently made Associate Conductor and Head of Chorus at WA Opera. It’s an appointment that will not only further his development, but allow him to exercise an aural imagination which thrives on maximising colour and texture in order to elucidate line and form – as he does here.

Again playing the superb organ of La Madeleine in Paris, which has no less than 60 stops and 4426 pipes, Nolan bathes the dramatic opening Moderato of the A Minor Symphony No 7 in a stained glass light of glowing registrations. He then makes his way to the astonishing Finale via movements such as the Allegro non troppo, the pianistically-conceived nature of which Ates Orga alludes to in the booklet notes, and a sublime Largo. Both feature playing of enormous subtlety and technical control.

The Symphony No 8 in B Major is likewise full of colour and nuance, qualities that are most readily apparent in the lyrical second movement. But if the fourth movement Passacaglia encapsulates Nolan’s determination to achieve maximum cohesion through maximum differentiation, it’s in the unbridled energy of the minor key finale that we find him at
his most dramatically persuasive.

Ahead of its WA premiere, the organist reckons Handel’s oratorio offers more than just The Queen of Sheba’s ubiquitous arrival. This article is available to Limelight subscribers. Log in to continue reading. Access our paywalled content and archive of magazines, regular news and features for the limited offer of $3 per month. Subscribe now

This fifth volume in Perth organist Joseph Nolan’s magisterial survey of the complete organ works of Charles-Marie Widor ends his already highly acclaimed traversal of the ten organ symphonies on which Widor’s reputation chiefly rests. Where Widor’s Op. 13 set of four organ symphonies favours the suite, the four of Op. 42 are more consciously symphonic and discursive. By contrast, 1894’s Symphonie Gothique, Op. 70 and 1900’s Symphonie Romane represent a glorious late florescence where the former looks backwards, the latter towards a brave new century. The Ninth Symphony was written for the grand Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Gothic Church of St. Ouen in Rouen; here it is performed on the equally grand Cavaillé-Coll of L’église de la Madeleine in Paris. Nolan performs the Tenth on its intended instrument, the beautiful Cavaillé-Coll of the Romanesque La basilique Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. Nolan is Master of Music at St. George’s Cathedral, Perth and was recently made a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his services to French Music, and it comes as no surprise that recent forays into purely orchestral conducting have been met with great enthusiasm, such is his keen ear for the dynamic warp and…

I’m not sure Charles-Marie Widor would have liked to be remembered simply as the man whose Toccata provides happy couples with the second most popular wedding recessional in history. But there’s not much danger of that with organists the calibre of UK-born Joseph Nolan (currently Organist and Master of the Choristers at St George’s Cathedral, Perth) keeping the sacred flame burning. Nolan here offers the first fruits of seven nocturnal recording sessions in a row, during which he put down all ten of Widor’s organ symphonies at the console of the superb four-manual, 60-stop, 4426-pipe Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Madeleine, Paris. The first two symphonies of Widor’s Opus 42 are grandly Romantic, five-movement behemoths that balance huge multicoloured edifices of devilish complexity with softer-lit landscapes populated by angelic choirs of varying dimensions. Nolan hovers over all like some musical demiurge, fleet of feet and fingers as he negotiates the massive chords and filigree passagework of faster movements such as the closing Vivace of Symphony No 6; thoughtful and sensitive yet smouldering with creative tension in slower movements such as the multi-faceted Andantino quasi allegretto and mellifluous Fifth Symphony Adagio. And “that” Toccata, with which the Fifth Symphony and the disc…

Orchestral Editor’s Choice, December 2013 Those of you who still haven’t cottoned onto the idea that Widor wrote a hell of a lot of brilliant organ music, most of it far superior to that Toccata, really need to hear this third volume in UK-born Perth-based organist Joseph Nolan’s recordings of Widor’s ten organ symphonies, part of his traversal of the composer’s complete works for organ. Like the previous two highly acclaimed volumes, this one’s been recorded on the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ of La Madeleine, Paris. Cavaillé-Coll was a friend of Widor’s and the composer’s music is inextricably linked to his instruments, which Widor played throughout his career. The four organ symphonies which comprise Opus 13 were first published in 1872 and later dedicated to Cavaillé-Coll. Taken together, the Symphony No 3 in E Minor and the Symphony No 4 in F Minor form a contrasting diptych, the more overt romanticism of the first contrasting with the neo-Baroque qualities of the second. Both however are equally imbued with delicacy and drama – qualities that are brought to the fore by Nolan with such nuance and insight that you feel you learn more about Widor by listening to these performances than reading…

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